Sweat hit the ground running with their debut, working up a lather on Gotta Give It Up. Two years later, the California trio is back and they still seem plenty angry. Their second LP, Love Child may have a charming title but it has just as much fire as their debut. It follows a similar style while showing more nuance and growth. The biggest development I see on this record is that the guitar carries more of the melody, where Tuna Tardugno’s vocals were the core emotive piece on the last one. The tapestry weaves together just a little bit more this time, with interplay between the two bringing some forceful moments. The first time around, the vocals somewhat stole the show. They are just as effective now, but with even stronger backing.
It seems like hardcore slowly broke down into so many categories that the broader genre name has become meaningless. But within those offshoots, much of it focuses on stompcore rhythms or tonal brutality. For me, the genre has always been about unbridled energy, flying free of convention without taking itself so seriously that you can’t have fun. Sweat goes back to the basics. It’s not to say they aren’t serious, but the tone is uplifting and aggressive. “Physical” is maybe the best example of this, a song that screams “let’s get physical” with its sheer energy. The vocals ask a series of rhetorical challenges atop buzzsaw guitars and perfectly timed backing vocals and a notable but modest groove. To keep the theme of physically letting your frustrations out in a positive way, the next song is called “A Real Good Time” and uses call-and-response exchanges to bring everyone together as the beat simultaneously pummels you. Then the bass in “Predisposed Paranoia” subtly sets a doomy tone in that song that underlies a punchy melodic breakdown to close out the record. The title track is a really good example of what Sweat does best: punchy, angry, yet a little bit spastic like it go off the rails at any moment.
Kicking things off in a fierce way, machine gun drums establish the tone with “Commercial Pleasure” and it just keeps building. As a whole, this record hits me similarly to the first one. I’d argue that Side B is a little bit stronger, but not in a night vs. day comparison or anything. It’s just a strong record that ends on a high note. Oh, and Sweat members have also played in Graf Orlock, Dangers, Ghostlimb, and more.
